Eyes of Kadic: The Carthage Files
by MugiChanx
Summary: When another one of Xana's tricks causes Kadic Academy to be destroyed, killing all but a few, the Lyoko warriors are left to fend for themselves. Only when picking apart the rubble do they realise survival isn't the only thing they'll be diving into...
1. Prologue

Eyes of Kadic: The Carthage Files

**A/N: Welcome! This is Cha-Cha-Cheesecake and MugiChanx here, with another one of our co-authored stories! :D Code Lyoko is so frigging epic, I cannot WAIT until the new live-action series comes out! x3 Anyway… Onto the real intro.**

**Eyes of Kadic (mah little nickname for it) will not only be focusing on our present Lyoko warriors, but also on our past Lyoko warriors, such as Franz Hopper and co :] It'll probably be quite a long fic, although I don't know how often we'll update, so be prepared for that! Aaaand… I don't have much else to say, except to watch CL if you haven't already and look at Code: Wiki if you want some more info on Project Carthage. Disclaimers: We don't own anything except this mega-duplo awesome fanfic!**

**Summary: When another one of Xana's tricks causes Kadic Academy to be destroyed, thus killing all but a few, the Lyoko warriors are left to fend for themselves. Only when picking apart the rubble do they realise survival isn't the only thing they'll be diving into…**

"…and our main story tonight; freak explosion at a local high school kills hundreds. Kadic Academy, a boarding school run by famous scientist Jean-Pierre Delmas, was destroyed last night at 11:11pm. The explosion was believed to have been caused by a chemical bomb in the basement of the school. It is believed only a student or teacher at the school could have triggered the bomb. All teachers and students in the school at the time have been pronounced dead. Our correspondent reports-"

Jeremy Belpois closed the window on the luminous computer screen, hardly daring to believe what he already knew to be true. Only moments ago, Xana had finally succeeded in his plans, and now hundreds of their classmates and teachers were dead.

The bespectacled boy turned around in his chair, resting his head in his hands.

"You think Xana did this?"

Jeremy looked up into the questioning eyes of Ulrich Stern. He'd always found Ulrich hard to read, but now he knew exactly what was going through his mind. Everybody was thinking exactly the same thing; how could this have happened?

"I-I'm pretty sure this was Xana's doing, although how he did it I have no idea. There's no sign of an activated tower or anything. Anyway, I'm not going to do a return to the past. With this many people dead, who knows what the outcome would be? With hardly any students, the school would probably be shut down anyway, and then we'd be forced to different schools in the area. Odd may even have to leave the country!"

Odd Della Robbia clenched his fists but, surprisingly, said nothing.

"I've called Yumi." Aelita was climbing up the ladder leading to the scanner room, her cell phone in one hand. Her eyes were red and puffy, and Jeremy could tell she'd been crying.

"Oh Jeremy, she's so relieved. I think she believed we were all dead. Jeremy, if… if we hadn't gathered here to test that new program you created… We'd all be dead!"

Aelita burst into tears and fell to her knees, alarming Jeremy. Ulrich numbly put an arm around her as she sobbed, but nobody knew what to say.

After a few minutes of sobbing and sniffing, Aelita composed herself.

"Y-Yumi's getting some blankets and things from The Hermitage. Jeremy, what're we going to do?"

Jeremy closed his eyes in deep concentration. What were they going to do?

"Xana's gone too far this time. Its time we finish him off once and for all. And it will be easier to do that if we don't have things to worry about like school and homework, so-"

"Are you suggesting we pretend we're dead? And live here in the factory? Jeremy, that is the dumbest idea I've ever heard!"

Ulrich shook his head, dumbfounded, but nobody spoke up.

"Odd, Aelita? Are you okay with this?"

They both glanced at each other in silence.

"We… We could stay at the Hermitage. It's a house, and it's… Warm."

Ulrich stared, dumbfounded, then turned to Odd, as if asking for backup.

"Odd?"

Odd rolled over, leaning his face in his arms, but mumbled something about it being 'for the greater good'.

"Ulrich, if we get sent to different schools, it will make it ten times harder for us to defeat Xana and make sure nothing like this ever happens again. It would be for the best."

Ulrich sighed and nodded reluctantly in agreement.

"Fine, but what do we do about _them_?"

Ulrich pointed to the corner, to the shivering mass of silently snoring Milly and Tamiya. They'd followed the group to the factory a few hours ago, so sure they were about to unearth the biggest scoop of the century. Little had they known they had just escaped the biggest disaster in the country. Jeremy shrugged wearily.

"We've just got to make sure they don't tell anyone about the Supercomputer. And they need to promise to never tell anybody that we're still alive, otherwise my plan will be useless. We'll talk to them later."

Ulrich nodded, then sat down, cross-legged.

"So I guess the votes are all in favour, huh?" he moaned, crossing his arms. Odd nodded, petting Kiwi thoughtfully.

"You know, I'm so glad I bought Kiwi with me to the factory. If it weren't dorm inspection week, my little diggity dog would have been blasted to smithereens!"

"You mean like all those students!" Aelita snapped, crossing her arms and furrowing her brow. Odd fell silent, his small smile vanishing just as quickly as it had appeared.

An hour passed before the gang heard the hopeful whirring of machinery and the elevator doors slide open to reveal a walking mass of blankets and pillows.

"Is everyone okay?" came an anxious voice from behind the duvets.

"Yumi!"

Sheets and pillows cascaded around them as Aelita flung herself at Yumi, hugging her tightly. The two girls stood and sobbed for a while, and when they disentangled from their embrace, both had red-rimmed eyes and tear trails on their cheeks. Yumi glanced around at her friends, her amazing friends, all here, living, breathing…

"Ulrich!" Yumi ran forward and pulled him into a tight hug, then turning to Jeremy and Odd and giving each a small hug in turn.

"Calm down, drama queen," Odd gave Yumi a tiny smile and wiped away a tear that had escaped her dark eyes, "Everything's okay now."

"Well, not really, Odd," Jeremy cut in, turning to the Supercomputer, "I'm going to do an all nighter, but you guys go ahead and get some rest. We'll move out to the Hermitage tomorrow."

"I have blankets and things here. I took as many as I could carry," Yumi murmured breathlessly, handing out pillows, then spreading out duvets to cushion the floor with the help of Odd and Ulrich. Aelita threw a blanket over Milly and Tamiya, careful not to disturb them from their slumber.

"This may not be appropriate, but… well, isn't this a little fun? I mean, it feels kind of like a sleepover!" Aelita pulled a blanket around her and lay down beside Yumi. Nobody answered Aelita, but none of them could help thinking that, despite the terrible situation, it was a tiny bit fun.

"Do your parents know where you are, Yumi?" Ulrich asked, buttoning up his jacket. She shook her head.

"They think I'm asleep in my room. I left them a note saying I was sleeping at a friends house. I don't care anyway, they can ground me or whatever, but I want to be here tonight."

Yumi pulled her red backpack she usually used for school towards her and handed out crisps, biscuits, cans of coke…

"Stolen from my cupboards, of course," she shrugged, mouthful of chocolate chip cookie, "my parents are going to kill me! Plus, considering I was supposed to be going to a sleepover, it would look too suspicious if I took anything other than junk food. Sorry guys. I'll go shopping tomorrow."

Ulrich took a sip of his soda, thinking deeply.

"Hey you know what? This reminds me of that show we used to watch in the wreck room, you know, that one where all those guys are stuck on a desert island. They all assigned each other roles in the group - some cooked, some collected food and so on. I think we need a structure kind of like that if we're going to live out here by ourselves."

Aelita chewed on a strawberry cable and pulled a piece of note paper from her school bag, beginning to jot something down.

"Okay, so… Jeremy will be working on the Supercomputer all the time, so that'll be his job. Yumi?"

Yumi shrugged.

"I'll do all the outside work, I guess. I'll bring you guys food, get a job, you know. It'll be hard for you guys to shop and stuff without people recognising you."

Aelita nodded and scribbled down everything Yumi had said.

"I'll be the teacher, then."

Odd stared at Aelita, confused.

"Why would we need a teacher?"

Aelita gave a half hearted laugh.

"Odd, if you want to have any chance of passing your exams when you go back to school, you'll need me to tutor you! We don't know how long we'll be living like this, but what we do know is that we're not going back to school anytime soon and we'll be miles behind everyone else."

Odd scowled and rolled over, pulling the covers around himself.

"And I thought no school meant no homework!"

The gang laughed, and for a while they almost forgot their troubles, talking in excited whispers about what they were going to do and how exciting it would be to sneak around. It was one in the morning before they finally calmed down and realised they had to be serious about this arrangement if it had any chance of working.

"Ulrich, set the alarm on your watch for five thirty," Yumi whispered into the darkness, "we'll have to move out to the Hermitage while it's still dark."

As Ulrich set the alarm, all that could be heard was Kiwi's soft snores and the sound of Jeremy typing at lightning speed. But all was not quiet in the minds of the Lyoko Warriors. Ulrich scrunched up his eyes, Odd quietly stroked Kiwi's back, Aelita hugged her pillow tightly, Jeremy tried to concentrate on his work and Yumi curled up into a little ball beneath the covers. But one question hung in the air in the little room of the factory, one question that rang in everyone's ears, echoed in everybody's head and escaped from all their sad, solemn mouths.

Why?

**A/N: So, this was a short intro to Eyes of Kadic. Hopefully future chapters will be a lot longer :D And a lot more plot will take place! And if ya think Jezza's spending a bit too much time on his lovely little supercomputer… well, you obviously aren't familiar with the other-worldly prodigy that is Jeremy Belpois.**

**Now, please review, for the sake of our Lyoko warriors! :D**

**~Mugi and Cha-Cha x**


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: Kay, here's chapter 1 finally! And yeah, for some reason, we're updating real fast at the moment.**

**Mugi: I like banoffee!**

**Cha-Cha: Yes, yes you do. Code Lyoko doesn't belong to us blah blah blah - Please review and tell us what you think of our fic!**

Settling In

_Bleep. Bleep. Bleep._

Ulrich groaned and rolled over, for a moment trying to ignore the loud and insulting sounds the alarm on his phone was making. For a few moments, he forgot where he was, expecting to open his eyes and be met with the dull white ceiling of his room. What he saw however, was the endless amount of wires and pipes hiding the ceiling from view, drowned in the green glow of the factory, and the flickering screen of the supercomputer. He pulled the blanket over his head and tried to fall back to sleep.

However, he wasn't going to be let off that lightly; moments later he felt a few tugs on the right sleeve of his jacket, and the blankets was whipped from his face. He opened his eyes reluctantly. Yumi was shaking him, her messy hair suggesting she'd been tossing and turning all night.

"Ulrich," she whispered, her voice shaking; was it from nerves or possibly excitement? "Wake up. We need to get to the Hermitage."

He sat up, cursing silently. He wasn't a morning person, and all the stressful events of last night had exhausted him. His eyes felt strained in the dim light, and he shivered as he acknowledged the fact that the factory did not have central heating.

He watched sleepily as Yumi began to shake everyone awake in turn, sitting them up and waving her hands in front of their faces to make sure they were alert. Jeremy appeared to have fallen asleep in his chair, and blushed when Yumi woke him, getting right back to work. Finally awake, the group tried to gather together blankets and pillows from the floor, first having to untangle Odd from a ball of duvets and sheets, which was especially difficult, as Odd certainly didn't want to give up his comfy bedding. Milly and Tamiya weren't morning risers either, it seemed, as they stood shivering in the corner, draping blankets over their shoulders and trying to sleep standing up against the cold walls of the factory. The early hour hadn't seemed to have affected Kiwi, who barked excitedly and jumped up at the kids, and everything combined amounted to everyone having a painful, pounding headache.

Eventually, after wasting fifteen minutes of gathering everyone together, the group headed off towards the Hermitage, their party lead by Aelita. She ushered the group through the blackness, her calming voice the only thing that kept everybody easy. Their breath came out in silvery puffs and their feet grew numb from the cold. Ulrich clasped Yumi's hand gently, the darkness masking their blush as they walked, slowly and in silence.

Shoving his frozen fingers into the pocket of his hoodie, Odd couldn't help but acknowledge the fact that usually, when they walked back through the sewers from the factory, it meant they had defeated Xana. It felt wrong to be walking this victory walk, after Xana had triumphed so terribly.

"We're here."

Aelita's voice was rusty from the period of silence, and she coughed heavily to clear her throat, attempting to remove any frightened whisper from her voice. Odd was the first to make a move towards the door, trying to keep his gaze from the iron bars of the well. One of his last visits to the Hermitage had been a year ago, when Xana had trapped him at the bottom of the pit while it slowly filled with water; if it hadn't been for Yumi, he would have drowned. Keeping his eyes forward, he pushed open the door, which creaked eerily. The blackness that surrounded them was nothing compared to the deep ink that filled the doorway. Milly gave a frightened squeak and shrunk back, away from the entrance. Neither her, nor Tamiya had asked a single question since they'd been awoken by Yumi that morning, but there was no doubt that their minds were full of them. Odd groped in the darkness, his hands sliding across the walls as he tried to locate a light switch; unfortunately, nobody had a torch or anything that could give them light. Aelita cursed her stupidity of leaving her laptop at the factory, knowing full well the glow of the screen would help them find the light in a number of seconds.

It took almost five minutes, before Ulrich finally found a switch which turned on a small, bare bulb which dangled from the ceiling, coated in dust. They found themselves standing in the hallway, the stench of damp and dust filling each persons senses and leaving them slightly dazed and completely disgusted. A row of shoes were wedged behind the front door, as Aelita and her father had left them all those years ago; large leather boots and tiny pink sandals littered the entrance, as if their owners had left them just moments ago. Aelita glanced at them for a moment, her eyes showing a flicker of familiarity, before she turned and beckoned them towards the first door on the right.

"In here," she mumbled, pushing on the wood of the door.

The group walked out into the living room, where they piled blankets and bags on the dirty, moth-eaten sofas, slumping themselves into armchairs and upon the rug, which was filled with dust, but still soft and comfortable. Most of the furniture was covered in white sheets to keep the dust off them, which now looked almost black with dirt. The group gathered around Aelita, who had been mentally and unanimously voted the leader in charge of the Hermitage, and simply sat, wondering what to do next. They'd made it this far, but they hadn't thought past their arrival. Now that it was clear what state the Hermitage was in, their plan seemed more and more ridiculous. It would be extremely inconvenient and almost impossible for seven teenagers to live here, in such damp, disgusting conditions. The house had electricity, it seemed, and Yumi recalled that there had been a tap outside with running water, but as the group examined the house a little more closely, it became clear that there was no running water _in_ the house, the oven didn't work and every room was completely trashed, books and clothes and an assortment of litter spread across the floor. It also seemed that, somehow, the house was even colder than before, and the longer they stayed there, the longer the group began to regret leaving the factory.

Still, there is good in every bad situation, and each member of the group found that actually, their situation wasn't completely awful. Aelita found a whole bookshelf of books about the Vikings, which her father used to read to her, while Ulrich and Yumi found that the house had a rather spacious basement, where it would be easy to practise their Pencak Silat without being disturbed. Even Odd found that the kitchen, apart from the oven, was in immaculate condition, and couldn't wait to see what kind of things he and the others would be able to cook up, and Aelita was sure that Jeremy would be thankful for the quiet confines of her father's study. Throughout their tour of the house, Milly and Tamiya's faces grew slightly brighter, especially when they found the garden was not beyond repair and with a bit of water and fresh seeds the garden could burst into something much more beautiful. Kiwi curled up on the rug and dozed off, the only one of them, it seemed, that was completely indifferent about the move.

After a brief tour of the house, they made their way back to the living room to try and decide what they would do next.

"So…" Milly scowled as she flopped down on the maroon sofa, "_This _is where we're going to live? I thought this was supposed to be your house!"

Aelita, who was trying to sweep away some of the dust with a mouldy towel from the bathroom, whipped round, her eyes sharp and her features etched with anger.

"If you haven't noticed, I don't live here! And besides, who said you were staying here? You need to go back to your families, as soon as possible, they… They must be worried sick!"

Her voice, at first holding seething anger, had become concerned, her eyes now soft and worried. Milly just glared, folding her arms defensively.

"We… We have a reason, an actual genuine reason, for not going back," Aelita told them, "but it's dangerous for you to be here, and besides, you need to go to school-"

"And you don't?"

Milly stood her ground, defiant, Tamiya nodding in agreement beside her. Aelita looked to Ulrich, reaching out for help. It seemed Milly, the quiet, whiny 8th grader was putting up more of a fight than she'd expected. The red headed girl raised an eyebrow, completely unfazed.

"Tamiya and I are not going _anywhere_ until you tell us what the hell's going on. Who is Xana, and _why_ did they blow up our school? How are you planning to stop them? Are they some kind of mass murderer, or maybe a member of a crime syndicate?"

Yumi shook her head, clenching her fists in annoyance.

"You wouldn't understand. You don't want to get caught up in this, Milly. Just go home, please."

Milly rolled her eyes, annoyed and Tamiya shook her head firmly.

"It's not that easy! Why do you think I'm a boarder? I'm an orphan, I've been at boarding schools since I was three years old. If I go back now, they'll just send me to a care home somewhere. And Tamiya's only relative is her brother, who just happens to be in jail, so if you don't mind, stop pretending like you understand, because you don't!"

Tamiya dithered, unsure of where to put herself, while Yumi just blinked, dumbfounded, surprised by Milly's outburst. It was true, none of them had thought that the girls would have no where to go. But could they possibly stay here? It didn't seem likely they would be able to keep Lyoko a secret from them if they did.

The atmosphere grew icy and mute. Odd was the first to speak, after a period of long and awkward silence; it seemed he was trying to choose his words rather carefully.

"Well, er… I'm sorry, er, Milly… and Tamiya…" he turned to the others, his face concerned and almost desperate, "Guys, can't we just let them stay? I'm pretty sure they won't do us any harm, and it would be useful to have some extra help on Lyo-"

"Don't even suggest that."

The words escaped from Yumi's lips uncharacteristically coldly. She stalked across the room, her back to the group, her arms crossed tightly across her chest.

"I don't want anything like what happened with William to happen again. It's way too risky. I don't mind them staying here, but… but they're not a part of the team."

The sky was a watery pink, the faint light shining through a layer of dust on the window. Ulrich put his hands in his pockets and shrugged.

"We can sort this out later. For now, we need to make this place liveable."

XXX

The group spent over an hour cleaning up the living room. Aelita uncovered several comic books she used to read, while Ulrich and Odd found many things that could be useful for them; a box of matches, a small battery powered pocket torch, some spare cutlery and dozens of blank notebooks, which Aelita claimed could be used for schoolwork. All together, the group had €45, and they tried not to think about what they would do once that money was used up. As soon as the shops opened, Yumi was to go down to the convenience store on the edge of town and buy supplies. On a piece of notebook paper, Yumi wrote a shopping list, as the others shouted ideas at her while tidying.

"No, Odd, we're _not_ buying hair gel," Yumi scolded when he suggested it for a third time. He crossed his arms sulkily.

"But Yuuuuuumi! I can't _live_ without my hair gel! How can I have my hair all sexy and Lyoko-fied without it?"

"Back-comb it?" Ulrich suggested. Odd scowled.

"Don't insult me," he snapped. Yumi's eyes grew wide as she chewed her pen in thought.

"You know, you're going to have to dye your hair, Odd."

"WHAT?" Odd's jaw dropped in horror. "What do you _mean_, dye my hair? It's a crime against nature!"

Yumi grinned.

"How many other Italian boys in France have blonde hair with purple highlights?" She laughed, but Odd didn't see the funny side.

"It's natural!" he insisted, backing away from Yumi as if she were about to smother his head in sticky dye. She shrugged.

"You should dye it brown. Or black! Black is good."

"You're such a goth," he said tactlessly.

"And you're a shouta," she replied, brushing the insult off her back. Odd wrinkled his nose.

"A _what_?"

"A shouta - a manga term for a guy who wins the hearts of many fan girls with his immaturity."

Odd's grimace became a cheeky grin.

"My beauty is a crime now, huh?"

Yumi rolled her eyes, returning to her list.

"I'll just pick out whichever colour I'll think suits you best. You know, if any of you want to see the light of day again, you're going to have to change your look completely. Like a disguise!" Yumi's face lit up; Odd could practically see her imagination working overtime.

"God save us," Odd joked, "I swear, she's imagining us all clad in black, midriff baring clothing and clunky boots." Yumi shoved him, grinning.

"Shut up. It's better then your fashion - pink and purple like a Barbie doll and with highly clashing shoes." He pulled a face.

"My look is unique and highly popular with the ladies, so don't diss my sense of fashion! The only person I know who has a fetish for gothic clothing is Ulrich."

Ulrich choked from over the other side of the room.

"Odd!"

Milly, who for the entire time had been sitting cross legged on the dust coated sofa, finally unfolded her arms and walked over to where Yumi was sat in the middle of the floor.

"I'll come with you, if you want."

Yumi glanced up at Milly, still a little raw from their confrontation.

"You haven't got a disguise or anything." she pointed out tiredly.

Milly shrugged, pulling at her pigtails and dropping the hair bands on the floor, then proceeding to grab Odd's purple hoodie, which he'd discarded in the far corner. Pulling it over her head, she became a completely different person; it was surprising how different she could look with long hair and an oversized hoodie.

"Hey, that's my-"

"You'll need someone to help you carry everything," she said, completely ignoring Odd's protests. She picked up Yumi's school bag, emptying the contents on the floor, then walked out of the room.

"Are you coming or what?" She called from the hallway. Yumi gave a small smile and left the room, leaving Odd, Ulrich, Tamiya and Aelita to clear up the rest of the living room, where they would all be staying that night until other, more permanent, sleeping arrangements could be made.

XXX

"Yumi? You got everything?"

Yumi wiped her brow, tense and weary. She and Milly were dragging heavy bags of living essentials around a tiny, and seemingly deserted, supermarket. Yumi had believed bringing Milly along would help her, but she couldn't be more wrong.

"No, we've still got to get toiletries, you know, soap and stuff!" she snapped, looking around suspiciously. Milly pouted, hands on hips.

"Why are you so uptight? I only asked a question!"

Yumi sighed dramatically, dropping her heavy bags to the floor.

"I'm shopping with a girl who's supposed to be dead - of course I'm being cautious."

Milly rolled her eyes and sighed in an almost patronising way, making Yumi's eyebrows twitch a little.

"If anyone asks who I am, just say I'm your cousin come to visit for the weekend."

"Oh yeah, only one problem with that. You're not Japanese!"

"Well sorry for trying to help!"

Yumi blew a strand of hair from her face in annoyance. Being with Milly for more than ten minutes was like being with a bratty little sister. _Ten times worse than Hiroki_, she thought, emptying her shopping bags into her red backpack. Milly had offered to help carry bags, yet seemed much too busy pointing out things she wanted, but they obviously couldn't afford, to carry anything.

"Ooh, these shoes are soooo cute! Buy them for me, Yumi!"

"Aww, come on, we don't need milk! Get some mango smoothie instead, it's my favourite!"

"Yes! The Subdigitals just released a new album, we have to get it Yumiii!"

Milly pulled boxes and packets off the shelves, slipping them into the baskets when she thought Yumi wasn't looking, while Yumi stared at the €45 in her hand and realised that it wasn't as much money as she'd thought.

"Hey Milly, er, what colour do you reckon would suit Odd?" Yumi asked, uncertain. She knelt down on the floor and browsed each shade of hair dye, but none were right for Odd. Yumi couldn't help but feel an attachment to Odd's extravagant hair colour - there's no way he could look the same without it.

"How about this?" Milly asked, holding a box of sky blue hair dye. Yumi shook her head dismissively.

"Knowing Odd, he'd probably go for it, but we're trying to make him blend in, remember? I'm thinking just some shade of brown or something."

Milly pouted, shoving the box back on the shelf in the wrong place.

"Spoil sport."

A buzz sounded as Yumi's cell phone rang, startling both of them; boxes of dye rained down on them like an avalanche.

"Oh crap!" Yumi pulled out her phone, looking frustrated.

"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU!"

Hiroki's voice could be heard loud and clearly as he shouted down the phone. Yumi winced and held the phone at arms length. Milly grumbled and began picking up the boxes and slotting them on the shelf in no particular order.

"Hiroki, calm down, I'm just out… er, shopping, with a friend-"

"You do know mom and dad think you've committed suicide or something, right?" Hiroki's voice sounded a little panicky.

"What?" Yumi couldn't believe what she was hearing. Why the hell would her parents think-?

"'I'll be back, don't bother calling'? Why would you leave a note like that? In fact, why did you leave at all? You do know mom and dad are going to _kill_ you, right?"

"Cover for me then," Yumi pleaded. "I don't know… tell them I went to visit a friend's family, to see how they were coping or something like that."

"Are you out of your mind? I still want the rights to live after I've convinced them you're alive and not sinking into depression!" Yumi rubbed her temples, feeling a migraine coming on.

"_Please_, Hiroki." she muttered, squeezing her eyes tightly.

"Fine, whatever. Okay then."

Yumi listened for Hiroki's goodbye, but it didn't come. She held her breath, as the only sound to be heard was Milly busily tidying up the mess.

After a long pause, Hiroki muttered, "Uh… Sis?"

"What is it, Hiroki? I'm kind of busy, you know!"

Milly tapped her foot impatiently, the floor clear of dye, as Yumi slumped against a shelf stacked high with fresh melons at half price.

"I'm… I'm sorry, about Ulrich, sis."

Yumi closed her eyes and sighed deeply. Her chest suddenly felt tight, as if she were genuinely grieving for her friend; but neither Ulrich, nor the rest of her friends were dead, so why feel like that at his mention?

"Bye, Hiroki."

She didn't hang up until she heard the dial tone. Milly raised an eyebrow, holding out the dye Yumi had selected.

"You in trouble?" she asked. Yumi shrugged, taking the box from her and giving a tiny laugh.

"Probably. Anyway, lets pay for all this stuff and then I'm going back home to face the parents. D'you think you can carry all this stuff _and_ remember the way back _and_ not get caught?"

Milly laughed, hands on hips.

"I'm not a child! Of course I'll be fine! Just don't get killed, or we'll have nobody to buy us food."

"Well, I'll take that as a kind of good luck. Come on, hand me one of those melons."

XXX

"Hey guys, come look at this!"

Aelita had been collecting screwed up note paper from the floor, when a particular piece had caught her attention. She held up a piece of paper, which seemed to be a diary entry, and began to read it out loud.

"'…I've tried to keep my research notes to myself, but Marceline's already contacted the school, JP's trying his best…', oh and here, '…Meeting Marceline tonight, we've got to clear things up between us.'. And all through these other notes I've found, it's 'Marceline this' and 'Marceline that'. Who the hell is Marceline?"

Aelita looked totally perplexed. Ulrich took the notes from her and his face grew confused as he scanned the page.

"So Franz Hopper's not the only one who knows about Lyoko, huh?"

"It's not your mom, is it Aelita?" Odd offered hopefully.

Aelita pulled a face and shook her head.

"I think I'd know my own _mother_, Odd."

"Just checking!"

Aelita sighed in exasperation and lay back on the dirty ground.

"Sometimes I think I know my father and sometimes he seems a complete stranger to me. I just… I wish he'd trusted me a little more, you know? Even at twelve years old, I wasn't an idiot!"

Odd gave a half hearted smile and patted her arm awkwardly.

"Well, you know Aelita, you're not the only one who doesn't know everything about their parents. My dad was in the military, and there's so much stuff he won't tell me, even now."

"And your dad was a whole lot more loving than mine is," Ulrich added, lying back, crossing his arms behind his head.

"What if this Marceline knows stuff that we don't? What if she knows where my mother is?" Aelita frowned. "I really want to know what happened to her. Even if she's… gone… at least I'd know then. Not even knowing whether she's alive or not is really irritating me."

"Well, there's no use getting frustrated. If we don't know we don't know. We can do our best to find out, but for now lets focus on getting this place a bit more homey." Odd gave her a comforting smile. She sighed, knowing complaining more wasn't going to budge his opinion at all - he could be pretty stubborn at the best of times.

Slam!

Everybody in the room jumped as the front door slammed shut, preparing for the worst, but soon relaxed as a muffled "I'm back!" and the sound of numerous tin cans hitting the floor could be heard. Milly swore loudly as a glass jar smashed on the floor, spilling jam across the dusty wooden planks. Odd couldn't help but sigh, as both he and Ulrich stood up to help her with the groceries, all of which were now smeared with sticky strawberry jam.

"I'm sorry," she muttered, wiping jammy hands on her leggings, "There was too much stuff-"

"Where's Yumi?" Ulrich asked, as he pulled open the fridge door, only to find the inside coated in dust and mould and twenty year old food. Odd glanced over his shoulder and screwed up his face.

"Eww…"

"She got a call from home and had to go. So she made me carry all this stuff by myself! And she didn't even buy my favourite ice-cream!" Milly groaned, as Aelita joined them in the kitchen and began to assist Odd in stocking the cupboards, which were a little dusty, but not nearly as grimy as the fridge. Ulrich frowned, realising how much trouble Yumi would be in when she got home.

"Dammit, I hope her parents aren't too mad."

Milly shrugged.

"Yeah yeah, whatever. I'm starving, what's for breakfast?"

Odd glanced into the plastic bag, containing items such as toothbrushes, toilet roll and soap.

"Um… Toothpaste?"

"Bread," Aelita corrected him, pulling out a small loaf, "but there's no toaster. How does bread and butter sound?"

Ulrich sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Great."

Aelita smiled apologetically, and began slicing the bread with a sharp knife she found in the cutlery draw.

"Wash everything twice," Aelita commanded, handing plates and mugs to the boys, "they've got twenty years worth of dirt on them."

Odd turned the handle of the tap, but nothing happened.

"Not there! Outside!"

Ulrich and Odd gave enormous sighs as they piled dishes and cups into a now empty plastic bag and hauled them out the room.

"Need any help Aelita?"

Tamiya appeared at her side, and Aelita instantly felt a strong emotion well up inside her; what it was, she wasn't sure. Tamiya smiled up at the pink haired girl, and Aelita quickly buttered a piece of bread, wrapping it in a spare plastic bag. She then added a few biscuits and a can of soda Yumi had brought last night, and gave Tamiya a little grin.

"Take these down to the factory and give them to Jeremy. He's been working so hard."

XXX

**A/N: Okay, here's your update! Like it? Review! Hate it? Review! Just have that urge to flame something? Review! (Although we will delete it). Constructive Criticism is appreciated!**

**Mugi and Cha-Cha - OUT!**


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